


Peace

by KieranDarkling



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adopted Children, Adorable, Bull's Chargers, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Children, Cute, Dalish Elves, Dorian is a Good Friend, Family Fluff, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Iron Bull Feels, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Prosthesis, Storm Coast (Dragon Age), Tal-Vashoth Iron Bull, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, True Love, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 12:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15119414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieranDarkling/pseuds/KieranDarkling
Summary: Iron Bull reflects on all the things that brought The Inquisitor and himself together.





	Peace

After all the Ban-Hassrath training, all the years living as a mercenary, and a third of a lifetime spent under the Qun, nothing had prepared Iron Bull for the mysterious enigma that was Din'an Lavellan. The soft spoken, timid, vastly intelligent elf with warm inviting silvery blue eyes had been cursed with a glowing green palm and the title of Herald Of Andraste before they had met, then later he had risen into power as The Inquisitor and lead one of the most widespread militant forces in all of Thedas, but he had always been something more to the towering half-giant of a man. Din'an had been first an employer, but that had quickly melted to a mutual friendship riddled with dubious amounts of gratuitous flirting that he was almost certain the elf was unaware he was doing half the time, and then somewhere along the way it had bloomed into something much much more.

He remembered, with startling clarity, the first time they had ever kissed. It was after all the time traveling nonsense and the business with the mages, after they had found lodgings at an Inn for the night. He was just leaving his room when Din'an had stalked down the hall towards him in a flurry of black scarves and sashes and he hadn't stopped him when he felt himself shoved back against the wall with startling force. Even stood on the tip toes of his leather boots the elf had needed to stretch, but he had grabbed the surprised Qunari by the jaw on either side of his face and kissed him with an furious urgency Bull hadn't seen him display in the months he had known the other man. Calculated, studied, thought out, everything was double checked and triple checked with backup plans galore when it came to how Din'an had always done things, with explanations and abundant detail and every outcome weighed carefully against another before anything was set into motion. Spur of the moment had never been his forte, so that had been relatively alarming to say the least. He simply stood there, dumbfounded, backed into a corner of some second story Inn in the Hinterlands being kissed breathless by The Herald of fucking Andraste. When their lips parted he had blinked down at the Inquisitor dumbly before he realized pale ashen cheeks were tracked with the thin wet streaks of shed tears. Din'an had been crying. His explanation, spoken in a choked, cracking sob as his voice wavered, was simply 'I saw you die.' Bull had let the mage throw himself forward into the cushion of his chest and had wrapped his muscular arms around the elf in a protective embrace, rubbing his back as he cried softly for a spell. It was a moment that hadn't lasted long at all, merely a few minutes, perhaps, and they had never spoken of it again. Din'an had been in an emotionally weakened state and Bull had understood that, but the first spark he felt for the man had been then, that was something he couldn't dare deny to himself or anyone else.

There had been many similar times, in the heat of victory or a split second of fear, where they had clung to one another and kissed with a burning passion. When Din'an had awoken after Haven fell, when they had danced at Halamshiral, and then in front of everyone present at Adamant when they tumbled out of the rift. The look of resounding shock on the faces of some of the scouts, soldiers and Wardens alike when the Inquisitor had grabbed his arm, forced him to turn and had thrown himself into a crushing hug had been funny, to say the least. He felt like they were the only ones in the entire world when impatient lips had struggled to find his, long curling lashes brushing his cheeks wetly at their shared closeness. Sera had whooped and hollered until they had separated, laughing at the impossibility of it all. When he had boomed a warning to the victory party after it had finally all come to a close and the hole in the sky had truly been sealed that he and the elf would be busy for the rest of the evening, they had even gotten a few cheers. But when Din'an had come stumbling back out of the Eluvian clutching his arm and screaming, that had been very different.

'Please vhenan, please, katoh! Katoh! Bull please I can't take this!' He had been screaming as the decaying limb was being hacked away with the sharpest dagger Sera had strapped to her hip, Dorian trying his best to keep a steady hand even though he was shaking with fear. Sera was pacing frantically, tugging at her own disheveled hair, crying and fretting and losing her mind slowly at the entire thing. He just cradled Din'an to his chest, squeezing him tighter, keeping him still as he tried to be as soothing and calm as he possibly could. He could remember begging any God that would listen to please let the elf fall unconscious so he wouldn't have to suffer, pleading with the Elvhen Creators and the Maker and Andraste herself to please save his beloved. He would have done anything. He had felt tears prickling his good eye as he watched his lover writhe in agony, drowning in tears and blood, and he began to paint pictures of a future they could share as Dorian worked over him, Sera doing her best to help.

'Kadan, remember how you wanted marriage?' He had begun in a quiet tone, almost whispering to keep his voice steady. 'You know, you're the only person who ever surprises me, because I hadn't expected that from you at all. I mean, you're so logical and smart, why would you ever want to do something so barbaric and ancient as marriage? But I like surprises, Kadan. I like surprises when they come from you. So how about it, huh? Let's get married. We can leave all this political world saving bullshit behind and we can just live. We can go up to the Free Marches, go to where what's left of your clan lives out there in the forest, and we can get hitched. Whatever you want. We can have a huge nature-y Dalish wedding with flowers and halla and a bunch of elvhen speeches I don't understand, or we can have a drunk little ceremony in some sleazy tavern in Kirkwall with Varric officiating, or we could go back to Skyhold and have a giant military shindig with soldiers in full armor, or some stuffy Orlesian ball at some palace in Val Royeux. I don't care what we do. Anything you want. Anything at all. We can keep working with The Chargers and making coin killing assholes, or we can move into that big fancy house you've got set up with that Comte title of yours, or we can go back to your clan, or disappear to Maker-be-damned Antiva, or Rivian, or fucking Tevinter if you want. We can adopt some kids or a thousand mabari or an entire swamp of bog unicorns, I don't care! Please...'

Here he had begun crying in earnest, and Din'an had finally drifted into unconsciousness with the scent of his burning flesh filling the parties noses as flame magic sparked around them. Even Dorian and Sera were crying, moved by his speech and terrified of what would happen in the next few moments to come.

'Please, just don't leave me, Kadan...'

He was shaken out of his revere by hushed giggling, and pulled up the flap of the large embroidered tent with a curious eyebrow raised. The rain had finally slowed to a powder fine drizzle sprinkling from the sky above The Storm Coast, most of it halted by the trees hanging lazily overhead before it even struck the ground. They were stationed just a bit further up the pathway than the Inquisition scout camp had once resided, enough that there was a long pathway winding down towards the bay side. There were more people in the area than there had been in all the times he had visited, enough people for a pretty wild party. A quiet bard song, some form of elven lullaby strummed on a lute and sung by a sweet voiced maiden, wafted through the crisp clean smelling air. Scents of the ocean and lavender swirled around the evergreen forest and crumbling rocky mountainside, wild embrium and elfroot sprouting up around the bases of wide long leaf pines. The sky was overcast, but a pastel gray that wasn't unpleasant, and the sunlight peered through the thin wispy clouds in beams of light that illuminated the beach like something out of one of Varric's books. On the crest that overlooked the sea there stood an archway made from bleached driftwood strung together with navy leather chords, and garlands of flowers and candles in blown glass spheres hung in the branches. Matching white wood chairs were sorted into rows of five with a wide expanse between them where a candle edged aisle flowed up the embankment. It was peaceful and serene.

Just down the slope he saw Din'an, knelt down to the eye level with a young wild haired girl no older than three years. The tips of her ears just barely poked out from behind frizzy black curls, and a smattering of gatlok powder freckles dotted her face. She was smiling, a gap between her two front teeth, and teetering on bare tip toes to place a crown of woven Crystal Grace flowers on the mans head while he laughed at her antics. Suddenly he lurched forward, snatching the giggling and thrashing child up into his arms as he pressed pursed lips against her cheek and blew, making her laugh even harder at the noises it produced. Balancing her on his cocked hip in the most motherly fashion, he extended his prosthetic silverite hand, palm facing up, and created a beautiful blossom out of ice from the rune stone nestled in the center. The girl clapped, stupified, and blinked at the swirling magic dumbly. He had never considered himself father material, but Seranni, the little girl in his lovers arms, had changed his mind the second she came into their lives months ago. Observing his little family, his heart swelled with adoration and pride.

"You ready yet, Chief?" Krem asked from somewhere behind his right elbow, clapping his back firmly. Glancing over his shoulder he looked the Tevinter up and down, noting how well he had cleaned up. Instead of his usual armor he wore a finely embroidered tunic tucked into clean, well stitched trousers with a sash around his waist. Certainly best man material. "I think that Her Ladyship the Divine Victoria might be getting ansty up there at the pulpit."

Iron Bull turned to look up the hill at Leliana where she stood behind the arc, dressed like a common Chantry Sister for disguise purposes and glaring daggers at him as if to threaten death and dismemberment if he backed out of the ceremony now. He could almost feel the pinpricks of a knife point at his lower back. His eye swiveled back to Din'an.

The Elvhen man was handing their daughter over to a smiling Flissa, who was crowded by Dalish, Skinner and Grim, all of whom wanted to shower her with affection. He was the physical embodiment of radiance in his wedding regalia, the paragon of grace and beauty. The gown he wore was eerily similar yet vastly different from what he had worn at The Winter Palace years ago. It was knit and high necked, like everything the shy little mage had in his ensemble, the sleeves long enough to reach the center knuckle of his fingers. The skirt was slinky and hung loosely from where it swelled out at his hips, flirting with the area where ankle met calf, and he looked absolutely stunning in it. Half lidded eyes were lined in smudgy khol and full plush lips were painted a matte ebony. Long sliver-blonde hair was pulled away from his face in a ponytail on top with the under layer flowing freely down his back. Bull felt his breath hitch in his throat when his lover turned to smile at him, tucking a stray lock behind one pointed ear. It was like the clouds parted and a single pillar of light shone down on Din'an, bathing him in a gorgeous golden hue. Everything clicked into place in that moment and he realized exactly what it was he wanted out of life, and it was standing there waiting for him to make his move.

"Yeah, Krem. I don't think I've ever been more ready for anything in my life."

**Author's Note:**

> Random trivia about my Quizzy!!!
> 
> • The name Din'an is Dalish for "death". Din'an was named this by his father when his mother died shortly after giving birth to him.
> 
> • Din'an wears a monochromatic wardrobe that consists of turtlenecks and fitted trousers in various shades of black and gray, the wildesdt thing about his fashion tastes being a marled knit here and there.
> 
> • He probably reads more than Dorian and Solas combined.
> 
> • Drinks. All. The. Tea. To the point of a caffeine addiction, which causes some prominent dark circles under his eyes.
> 
> • His specialization is Rift Mage, and he's more of a healer/protector than anything, but he uses the occasional ice spell.
> 
> • Dagna and Harrit made his masterwork silverite prosthetic arm for his wedding, he usually wears one that is made of obsidian and ebony.
> 
> • He uses male pronouns but identifies as more androgynous, wearing dresses every so often as well as makeup.
> 
> • Seranni, the daughter he and Iron Bull adopt, is actually the child of his sister who died when clan Lavellan fell, but he has no idea of this.


End file.
